Comical Series Entitled ‘World’s Best Dad’

Dave Engledow is redefining “doting father” with the creation of an unusual scrapbook for his little daughter, Alice Bee. Once this young girl grows up she will have a most unconventional album of herself in quite the comical situations.

What the images represent are a series created by Engledow that lampoon his role as a father, depicting him in situations where he would least likely find himself. Engledow relates the production of the series ironically (and comically) called World’s Best Dad.

“The very first shot that my wife and I did with Alice, when she was probably 8 or 12 weeks old, was just intended to be a single image. I wanted to make fun of myself [as a] new father — sleep deprived and kind of clueless,” said Engledow in a recent interview. “The character I portray in this series is intended to be a parody of the father I hope I never become — distracted, self-absorbed, neglectful, clueless, or even occasionally overbearing…”

Engledow is currently on Kickstarter, trying to raise money to fund a calendar made up of the images. For those perhaps put off by some seemingly precarious circumstances from the images, Engledow is quick to dispel any concerns, saying, “the cardinal rule is always to make sure that Alice is never actually in any danger.”

Father and daughter usually posed separately, and Photoshop is used to stitch the images together into a final product. Engledow also does some additional digital enhancing of the pictures to make them appear more cartoonish, keeping them consistent with the humorous theme. “I want the style to alert people to the fact right away that this is supposed to be funny. That’s why I ham it up a little bit in the shots … because I want people to get right away this is a joke, it’s not real.”

I am a freelance photographer who is no stranger to smudged lenses, long hours in front of the computer, heavy camera bags (and the back aches that ensued) and missing lens caps. If you know what I'm talking about, you probably have as much love and passion for photography as I do.